Destined Flow
by Terah Nightwind
Summary: A story that pairs to Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon Z. How did the story go down in Mirai Trunks' timeline? What if Sailor Earth never killed Kara at the hospital battle? What would have happened then?
1. Chapter 1

Kara woke up that morning with a headache that refused to go away. It hurt to try and move, and she wanted to just curl up in her cozy bed and cuddle with her stuffed rabbit. It was then that she found she couldn't budge. She couldn't even make her arms work.

Her green eyes snapped open and looked around desperately. This was Nightwind's penthouse, not even five miles from where she lived. How did she get here?

It slowly came back to her. Another fight with her parents. She had grabbed a change of clothes and ran out of the house and down the street to the store on the corner. She'd called Nightwind and must have passed out on the way here… no, that didn't seem right. Something about the park?

As she tried to force her arms and legs and even tail to respond to her mental commands there was a searing jolt of pain. She tried to scream, but that was when she realized that not even her voice would work.

"Are you awake?" Nightwind asked. Kara looked over to see her leaning over the table, smiling. There was smug satisfaction on her face and sadistic pleasure. It was in her eyes.

The memories exploded into Kara's brain in a single moment. Those eyes were the same, the very same...

"You're a hard little bitch to locate," Terra explained. "But it all worked out in the end for us. Don't worry, Sailor Neo Moon, if you do what I ask you'll die with relatively minor pain."

Fear coursed through Kara's body as she began to struggle again. Nothing would work right and she felt as though her knee was on fire. Nightwind ran a finger down her face and kept smiling.

"Get up."

The command seized her and in spite of what she was telling her body, it moved on its own and stood up. She felt her hand grip her transformation compact and hold it. More commands came without words and she found herself struggling to keep up with them. Her knee shrieked at her for the abuse, but there was nothing she could do to stop it.

"This is amazing. You're completely in my control." Nightwind held her hand out to offer a dark crystal to Kara. She reached to take it.

"Now, we're going to the hospital, and we're going to drain out every last drop of power in your little friend," she laughed. "And then, I'm going to finally kill you."

* * *

Kara made her way to the hospital with Nightwind, the entire ride there was spent answering questions she didn't want to answer. Why did she have a tail? What memories of her past did she have? Who were the other Neo Senshi? Where did Black Moon come from?

"Not that it matters. This is going to be so much fun," Nightwind commented. "I'll get to watch you slaughter your friends."

She parked and the command to enter the building and go to Keiko's room came. Kara had no choice and she felt her body move on its own. The people at the check in station knew her, and the process was simple. Just as always, she checked in to go visit her little friend and walked to the elevator.

'_Keiko! Please, know that something's wrong! Call for a nurse! You have Aly's number, call it!_' she shouted in her mind. The elevator closed behind her, but it kept pausing for other people. The longer it took, the more it broke down Kara's soul. The feeling of being controlled was… slimy.

The doors to her stop opened, and she was forced to walk on, pushing past nurses and doctors. The entire time she kept that crystal in the palm of her hand.

When one of the workers tried to make her stop to chastise her for her actions, she turned and punched. Her hand went through his gut and he fell to the ground. People began to shriek and run from it.

"Moons Light, Transform!"

The transformation caused an explosion to rock throughout the entire floor. Fire alarms went off as Kara tried desperately to force herself to turn around, to move her own hand, anything that would tell her she could break free. There was a moment that she thought it was possible, but it was no use. She raised her hand and watched as a ball of light flew forward and blew the door off its hinges. She could hear Keiko inside, screaming.

"Kara-chan," Keiko shouted, scooting up in her bed as Sailor Neo Moon walked into the hospital room. Smoke billowed in from outside. She held her weapon in her hand and did not so much as flinch as the glass in the large window blew out from an explosion that threw the girl from her bed. Her eyes were… strange. As though she had no soul.

Keiko coughed and whined from the pain of her I.V being torn from her arm. She froze as she heard the sound of humming and boots crunching on broken glass. Alarms were blaring, people screaming… when in through the door, behind Neo Moon, walked Sailor Earth, shouldering her sword, a demonic grin plastered on her face. She was singing.

Earth sneered and put a hand on Neo Moon's shoulder and pointed her sword at the child who was trying to stand up when her energy gave out. She was more terrified than she'd ever been.

"I need to forgive you, Jadeite. If you hadn't attacked that day we'd still be running in circles looking for this child," Earth said. "Now Kara, be a good girl and hold her!"

Neo Moon made a motion to rush her friend, which caused Keiko to scream. In an instant, the light was all gone from outside. Her eyes began to glow and her anger began to well up towards the evil woman in front of her, as she screamed at her to stop hurting Kara-chan.

"Such power!" Earth screamed, grinning as Keiko screamed. Shouts to get to her room could be heard from outside the door. Earth held her hand out and Dark energy shot forth, killing the would-be rescuers. Power from Keiko was being siphoned into the crystal, as Earth ordered Neo Moon to rush her again.

But something strange happened. Keiko's eyes were different somehow. Earth stopped smiling and looked confused, before striking Neo Moon and yelling for her to obey. Neo Moon raised her wand to strike, but turned at once to attack Earth! Free from her influence, Earth made to take control again, her sword struggling against the Star Wand that was holding it back.

"What trickery is this?" Earth shrieked, realizing she couldn't see into the girl's mind anymore. She had broken free! She was immune!

"I won't let you hurt anyone else!" Neo Moon shouted as she shoved Earth into the alcove that led to the door outside. She got between the two and Keiko. Earth staggered back in and went for her throat, raging for blood, when something caused her attack to go low. Neo Moon was struck in the side and fell to the ground. Keiko crawled over to her, looking terrified.

"What the hell?" Earth demanded. She looked down to see her blade being blocked by a young boy.

"_I don't know who you are,_" he began in what Earth recognized to be Japanese "_but you're not going to kill anyone!_"

Her translator raced to decipher his speech but she was hit hard. The wall gave way to another room and part of the ceiling came down on her. Neo Moon's transformation reversed shortly before her friends showed up.

"Kara!" Black Moon ran over to her friend to check on her. She was bleeding heavily and her eyes were un-focusing. She would bleed out if nothing was done.

In a rage, Earth made it past the boy and grabbed Kara by the arm. The teen's shoulder dislocated with a hard, jerking motion. She didn't have time to do anything else, though, because the boy attacked again. He was just as strong as Neo Moon, if not stronger. He was much faster than she was, at least. Guardian thrust her spear out, nicking Earth's side and electrocuting her hard.

"Jadeite!" Earth grabbed him by the shirt and the both of them vanished through a dark corridor. Shouts could be heard from the other side of all the rubble. People were working to clear it all out.

"We have to go!" Epsilon warned. "We need to be out of here when they clear the rubble! They can help Kara!"

The boy was kneeling by the older girl and with a swift motion, he forced her shoulder back into place. She screamed at the pain, but it began to quickly subside. Keiko put her hands on Kara's wound and they began to glow softly. In seconds the wound was healed up.

"You go. I stay here," she urged in her broken English. She and the boy spoke for a few moments before he nodded. Even though he was slightly smaller than Kara and clearly younger, he was able to lift her up and walked to the blown out window. He motioned for the others to come to him and the followed, unwilling to trust Kara to a stranger.

They each took his hand and vanished before security forced their way in to rescue Keiko.

* * *

Kara sat in a chair in Karen's loft in the church. She was aching terribly and her mind was racing on how to explain to her parents what had happened. The boy sat there uncomfortably as though he weren't sure what to say. It was possible he didn't speak English.

"_Are good?_" Kara asked. It was one of the few phrases she could remember being taught by Keiko. The boy looked over and seemed a little stunned she could speak to him, but nodded.

"I have a passing knowledge in English," he explained. "You don't have to worry."

Kara nodded a little and looked back at the ground. Karen entered from the room that served as her bedroom and sat bandages down.

"I just got off the phone with your mom," she said. "I told her you were visiting Keiko at the hospital, but praise the Lord you were on the first floor when that explosion hit. Officially, you're hurt and were disoriented. Aly drove you here to let you rest."

Kara nodded. "Thanks for lying, Karen. I know it bothers you…"

"There are times that one does what is necessary," she said. "Don't worry about it."

"You're lying to your mom?" the boy asked. It stunned him.

"I can't tell her about being Sailor Neo Moon! She and daddy would flip out!" Kara winced and held her injured side. Even though Keiko healed the wound up, it still ached terribly. "They worry enough about me… I can't tell them I have to save the world."

She slumped down and groaned at the severe pain that shot through her midsection. She exhaled with a soft 'fuck' and didn't even flinch as Karen smacked her head for it.

"We don't use that filthy language in the Lord's House!" she reminded.

"Whatever."

"Well… if you're feeling better, I have a favor I want to ask you," the boy said. Kara looked over at him.

"With what?"

The boy inhaled and thought for a moment, gathering his thoughts. How to ask them? This was the best opportunity he'd had since all the shit started up. He couldn't lose this.

"I want you to come to Japan. You, and your friends who have those powers. I can train you to fight like I do, and you'll get stronger. I'm half Saiyan, you see, and-"

He droned on for a moment, about what being a Saiyan was and what it meant, but Karen and Kara said nothing. They knew what it was, but before Karen could say anything, her friend grabbed her by the arm as if to stop her from talking.

Kara was half Saiyan, too. Just like this boy.

"…so, I want you to come with me, to fight the Androids. If you do, I'll help you fight off that woman from the hospital," he concluded, looking at the older girls with hope in his eyes.

"You can help us fight Sailor Earth and the Dark Kingdom?"

"Yeah! So, will you help me?" he said, pleading.

"We don't even know your name, though. I'm Kara Staar, and this is Karen Arianne. The girls downstairs are Carolyn Megai and Alysse Raven. Who are you?"

"Oh. My name is Son Gohan."


	2. Chapter 2

_'I have to think about it_'.

That boy, Gohan, had understood. What he was asking was no small feat at all. Give up her life to go train to fight androids. _Androids_. Weren't they just something from science fiction? It sure didn't seem that way. Nothing made sense any more.

All Kara could do at this point was to desperately try and wrap her mind around the events of the past day. Keiko was okay, so that was good. Terra Nightwind was Sailor Earth. That thought brought up several emotions at once. Confusion and sadness came up, and the thought made her sick to her stomach. Subconsciously, she reached down to rub her bad knee. How long had she known?

When Lyn won that contest and got Kara an entire day with Nightwind, did she know then? Going from class to class, flicking rubber bands at the other students and whispering too loudly while the teachers spoke… did Nightwind know she was speaking to Sailor Neo Moon?

She lay on her bed and stared at the ceiling. A poster of Nightwind had been torn down and stomped on, spat on, and torn. In her rage, Kara had scratched her arms up and even hit her own head against the wall, screaming in nonsense. Her parents were out of the house, visiting the doctor who had found her in the hospital.

Officially, there'd been some major short circuit or something like that in the hospital, and caused a massive explosion, which Kara had been caught in. No one died, but the hospital was in major shit for 'carelessness' that 'allowed it to happen'. They'd offered to cut the costs to the treatments of the individuals who were caught in the explosion and that was still in negotiations.

As she stared at her reflection, her tail hung limp. She didn't even have the energy to move it around. Now this 'Gohan' kid wanted her to pack up and move across the planet! The others were all for it. Lyn even said it would be like a fun vacation. Keiko wanted to take Kara around and show her all the sights her mind could come up with. Alysse and Karen didn't have anything tying them to America, but Kara did.

And this kid was half Saiyan… just like Kara.

He hadn't seen her tail in the fight, but she couldn't just up and oust her alien parent. She didn't want to go. She wanted to stay and kill Nightwind for what had happened. If they made a big deal of moving, Nightwind would come after them as they packed. If they snuck off, Nightwind would think she was just hiding somewhere in the city and would kill a lot of innocent people to find her.

And Keiko was one of them… Nightwind would still come to Japan after Keiko. Nightwind had to die.

Die. Die. Die. DIE. DIE. _DIE_!

In another rage, she clawed at her own skin and bit her tongue and arm until she tasted blood, dropping to the ground. She heard the door slam shut and fear seized her body. She hurried into the bathroom, wondering if she could escape through the window if Nightwind had come after her.

"Kara Marie, what is going on?" her mother demanded, watching her daughter pulling the stained glass parrot out of the bathroom window.

She turned around and tried to quickly think of an excuse, when her mother saw the damage on her arms. She went pale with worry.

"Not again! Kara, sweetie, the doctor said you were getting better about the self-mutilation!" She dropped to her knees to assess the damage Kara had done with her nails. She saw the bite marks, too.

"Why?"

Her biggest concern was that her daughter had hurt herself. How could Kara tell her she was going to go to another country to fight those androids? To tell her that her own daughter was Sailor Neo Moon? Her parents made her promise to not get into fights because of her heritage, this would destroy them!

"It was… Me and Karen got into an argument," she inhaled. "Over Nightwind, 'cause of the rumors that she had a girlfriend, and Karen said she's gonna go to hell and I said it doesn't matter, and we fought and I got mad."

Her mother sighed and ran a hand down her face. "Sweetie, please don't do this anymore. This is why we got that punching bag, for you to take your anger out on."

Kara nodded and said nothing else. If she set foot outside, Nightwind might be there to see her. Kara's head still ached, from a mixture of banging it against the wall and freeing herself from the mind control.

"Want to go out and hit it?" her mother pushed a lock of hair back from her face. All Kara could think of was what if Nightwind was outside waiting on her? She shook her head.

"No… I might break this one, too."

Her mother smiled at the idea and nodded. "Okay. Let's get your father up and we'll head to the mall downtown. Okay?"

Kara was reluctant, but she couldn't say 'no' to this, too. Her mother would KNOW something was up. All she could do was nod.

"Okay."

* * *

Once her father was up, she was dressed and at the mall. They would meet up at the food court later and went their separate ways. Her mother took her to the game store as soon as she could.

"Here we go. How about some new games?" she asked with a smile. "I'll never understand your fascination with these things."

Kara nodded. She was still skittish about being in the open. Where was Nightwind? Was she nearby? Had she followed them? She pulled away from her mother, who frowned, and bolted inside the store. Once in, she was sure she was safe. But, soon, she'd have to leave and be in the open again.

Nightwind would be there!

It hurt to breathe at that point, due to her beginning to hyperventilate at the thought, and she sunk to the ground. Her mother found her quickly and knelt down next to her, concerned.

"Kara? Are you okay?"

Kara tried to nod and then shook her head. "No… a-at the hospital, I-"

Before she could fully confess, her mother seemed to take it to mean that she was still sick from the 'explosion'. Kara squeezed her eyes shut and put her hand to her temple. Her head still hurt and the lights and noises were making it worse. Her mother just stood her up.

"Let's go get you something to eat," she offered. "This was a bad idea, you need to rest."

They walked out into the mall proper and began heading to the food court, when something in her gut told Kara to stop. "Mom? Uh… I love you," she said.

Her mother turned back to return the sentiment when an explosion rocked the entire building. It was as if a bomb had gone off and the people began shrieking and screaming as they searched for exits. Kara had been shoved aside moments before and coughed as she looked up. Her vision was getting blurry from the combination of events, but she clearly saw her father crushed under the debris.

"DADDY!" Kara shoved part of the ceiling off of herself and tried to go to his corpse despite the severe pain shooting in her side. That was when she saw two figures standing there, shooting down anyone who tried to run with energy.

'_Are those… the androids?_' she wondered. The one with black hair turned to face her and shot at her and didn't seem fazed that she back-handed it away. She felt in her pocket for her transformation brooch. She could become Sailor Neo Moon and drive them off, she knew she could. These things had just killed her father, Nightwind no longer registered in her mind as a threat. She was seeing red.

"Look at this one," the one with black hair said. "She thinks she can fight back." Without warning, he was behind her and trying to snap her neck. He had a slight underestimation of what she was and this time he was a little stunned when she broke free and knocked him back.

Now they knew what to expect from her and she realized she was in trouble. She had no way to contact the others and could only hope Karen had a vision. Hell, she'd even take Nightwind at this point. They'd teamed up once before, hadn't they?

The blonde rushed her while the other punched. She just flipped up and over the girl and landed behind her before taking off as fast as she could, where her mother was.

"Hey!"

Kara stopped and looked up to see Gohan dropping out of the sky and land in the mall. "Kid, why are you here?"

"It's me they're after," he explained. "I didn't think they'd FOLLOW me to America! Get out of here, you're not strong enough to fight them!"

"Dad's dead because of them, I'm not leaving!" she shouted. When the blonde one tried to grab her, she ducked and tried to knock her legs out. However, her mother was there first, holding her down from behind.

"Mom?! Y-you don't fight!"

Kara's mother growled and tried tearing the woman in half. She was knocked aside as the woman said something and she rolled slightly. Her tail came in full view. Gohan's eyes went wide when he saw it.

"A tail?!"

"MOMMY!" Kara ran towards her mother's side, only to get stopped by Gohan. He was stronger than she was and he kept her there.

"Get my little star out of here," her mother coughed. She pushed herself up. "Please keep her safe." She smiled and began running towards the two androids, letting her blood dance in her veins as she began to fight at full strength for the first time in nearly twenty years. Gohan kept trying to pull Kara back, but her grief forced adrenaline in her veins and she refused to leave.

Kara had to watch as the black haired one grabbed a large section of the wall and slammed it on Kara's mother. The attack stunned her, and a combined blast of energy from the two of them vaporized her.

She saw red and she couldn't hear anything the boy was saying. Her mother was gone, just like that. Her father was gone, just like that. These monsters took them both for no reason. Had it been Nightwind, it would have been to enrage Kara, and she thought she would at least UNDERSTAND that reasoning… but these things had no excuse to do anything.

Gohan was forced to watch as Kara's energy began to flare up. She rushed the two of them and punched the one with black hair, sending him flying back before he caught himself and righted himself in the air. The blonde haired one tried to stop her but was also knocked away. Kara's hair began to grow lighter and lighter in color, almost becoming blonde. Gohan realized what he was watching. If she could do it… he could train her and he'd have a better chance!

A sword blocked the two of them and Gohan recognized this injured woman. It was the one from the other day.

"Hey. No one gets to kill her buy me," Sailor Earth warned. Her yellow eyes narrowed at the two of them and she smirked. "Oh, my god. Really? I'm fighting a couple of ANDROIDS?" The tone of her voice was extremely condescending.

"Oh? And what are you?" the blonde asked.

"Back home, androids are SO outdated it isn't even funny! This is like taking a spear and an M16 on a hunt and seeing which does BETTER! I'm a Realian," she continued. Despite her injuries, she stood tall. "How about I show you the difference between us?!"

As if proving a point, she began to attack the two of them. Even with her own injuries, she was holding her own. Gohan looked to Kara again and ran to her. She had passed out from trying to power up while heavily injured. This wouldn't be good.

Grabbing her, he took her to the only place he could think of. The church.

* * *

"Dear Lord, you scared me senseless!" Karen chastised as Gohan appeared in the middle of her living area. "Keep quiet. The pastor is calling a prayer service for the explosion at the… mall…"

She trailed off when she saw Kara with him. Without another word, she led him to her bedroom.

"It wasn't an explosion," the boy explained. "The androids followed me. I guess they decided to attack the mall. Kara was there, with her family."

Karen didn't seem to understand at first. "What about them?" Gohan's silence was all she needed. She went pale and felt a wave of nausea.

"That woman from the hospital showed up. She seemed… excited at the idea of fighting 17 and 18." Gohan sat down on the floor near the doorway. "Then I saw Kara had passed out. She was trying to become a Super Saiyan."

"A what?"

"It's… a higher level of power. I've only recently become one."

Karen was only half listening, though. She began to pace back and forth. So many things were rushing through her head and she had to stop moving at one point. She rushed to a pad of paper and began furiously writing. The door on the floor below opened and Kara's other friends ran in. Lyn and Alysse.

"Oh, my god! Karen, did you hear?!" Lyn demanded as she bounded up the steps. It seemed like she had just gotten out of bed, since she didn't have her hair in its usual white bow. "I can't get hold of Kara at all!"

Karen was still furiously writing and it was a sign to Lyn to shut up. Alysse made her way up the stairs and Gohan could smell cigarette smoke on her. He wrinkled his nose and just waited on Kara to wake up. She really had no choice but to come to Japan now, and it upset him. He hadn't wanted to bring her with no other option.

After nearly five minutes of uncomfortable silence, Karen finally sat the pen down and slumped to the ground. "Sorry… it was another vision. Yes, I've heard, Lyn. Kara is in my room."

Lyn smiled in relief and went to go see. She was confused to see the boy there. He just looked up at her and nodded.

"Hi."

Lyn nodded back and looked to Kara. She seemed to be in a lot of pain. Karen grabbed her arm and pulled her out.

"Let the girl rest! Lord, you're like a child sometimes. Gohan brought her here shortly before you both got here. Kara was at the mall and… and her parents were…"

Lyn began to cry. She could tell from Karen's voice. Kara's parents had been such nice people.

"We're going to Japan," she continued. "Sailor Earth was there, too. She'll realize that Kara is vulnerable and will come for her."

"So, we need to get her crap?" Alysse asked. "I can get into the school and get her locker cleaned out."

Without waiting to get chewed out for her language or her plan, she got up and walked down the stairs. The school was practically next door. Karen just sighed.

"We need to get packed. They're going to release Keiko in a few days. Aly can stay behind and keep an eye on her and then follow. Someone needs to clean out Kara's house and get her things." She looked over to Gohan. "You move quickly. Can you do this?"

He thought for a moment. "I don't know. I'm worried about the androids showing up."

"We can hold our own long enough for you to get back. I need to seal up our main control room, and it's on the way. Her room is in the back and she keeps her window unlocked. You just have to get in and grab up a few things."

Reluctantly, Gohan nodded and pulled a small case out of his pocket. He popped it open and checked a list before closing it again and putting it away. "Okay."

* * *

They met back up the next day, after Kara woke back up. She was ready to leave with Gohan. She wanted to stop these androids more than anything now. The Dark Kingdom would have to wait. She still moved with a slight limp, but at least she could move.

"I can transport us instantly," Gohan explained as he handed a small capsule to Kara. "Here. I didn't know which stuff to get, so I have your entire room in this."

"What, is this a Capsule Corporation thing? These are kind of expensive, aren't they?" She turned it this way and that. "We don't have these here."

"Well, I know the Briefs'. Come on, are you guys ready?"

Lyn had a suitcase filled with various things and Karen had her own items. Both nodded.

"Okay, so your friend is going to meet up with us, right? Good."

Gohan held his hand out to the three, but an explosion rocked the entire building. The wall crumbled away to show Sailor Earth there, smiling.

"Where do you think you're going?" she demanded. Her arm was bandaged, as was her leg. She seemed to have taken a beating from the androids, but was ultimately well enough to be on her feet.

Kara felt her rage begin to peak again, but Karan pulled her back. Earth ripped her sword from its sheath and the blade cut the air into a wave of energy. It would have killed all four of them, had Gohan not taken off right then.

When the dust settled, the entire group was gone without a trace.


	3. Chapter 3

It had been four months since that day. Gohan had brought the three with him to Capsule Corporation where they'd settled in. Kara still had trouble sleeping, and her pica had come back in full force. They would frequently find her chewing on paper or on tree leaves and she had long since stopped hiding it.

She liked the baby, though. His name was Trunks and Kara thought he was the best thing ever. If she wasn't training, she was playing with him. His mother, Bulma, encouraged it. She'd had the brilliant idea to teach Kara Japanese alongside the child. He was learning his first words, and so was the teen.

Keiko's father had returned to no job, due to his extended absences from work. Bulma had quickly hired him on, along with the couple living a few blocks down. In these troubled times, people needed stability. The jobs that she offered were just the thing. Even better, the couple had a daughter who was the same age as Trunks. Her name was Kiyo.

Now, Kara was training with Gohan, who was trying to help her become a Super Saiyan. She could do it and he knew that. The problem was the pain. She wouldn't tell him when it was getting too bad and would always pass out as she tried to force herself to become one.

This had just happened, as well. She had passed out for several minutes before sitting up and groaning.

"You're supposed to tell me when it hurts too much," he reminded. "Pushing yourself like this isn't going to do any good."

Kara said nothing. Gohan wasn't sure if it was because she was ignoring him, or if she didn't have the Japanese words to say.

"_Stop being stubborn,_" he tried. She looked away with a frown. So she was ignoring him.

Gohan scratched the back of his head as he went to walk inside. Karen was in the middle of a vision and Lyn was out with Alysse, shopping. Each girl had gotten a phone to keep in contact with, in case of emergency.

Kara pushed past her mentor and limped inside. There was a look of pain on her face. She seemed to be having yet another migraine. This time, she barely made it to her room. Once the door was closed, it would be several hours at best before she made another appearance.

"She will be okay?" Karen asked. She and the others had picked up the language quickly. So long as the conversations were kept short, they did well. Alysse had been a little worried that Kara hadn't done better than she was. She was good at picking up languages.

They theorized that she had some form of brain damage after all she'd gone through. It wasn't even something they felt comfortable joking about with their friend. Kara had had no problem joking about all the times she'd fallen on her head as a child, but this time it was different.

Little Trunks had made his way to Kara's door and was patting it with his hand and looking up at Gohan with a look of expectation. He seemed to think that they'd let him in the room. Gohan sighed and picked him up.

"Not today buddy," he said as he carried him over to where Karen was. He put the boy down and sat in a chair across from the girl. "So, you have visions of the future?" he wondered.

"Something like that." Karen put the pen down. Each one was in English since she couldn't write in Kanji yet to save her life. "Something I see or say or do just trigger it. A massive wash of déjà vu. I began writing them down. When I was younger, it was stronger but as I've gotten older, it's gotten to be more feeling than anything. This one, though… I'm still working on it."

Gohan pulled the paper pad to him and looked at it. It was something about a large laboratory, it was dark, several women there fighting a girl with golden hair…

"Did you tear some pages out?" he asked.

"No. Kara was eating them."

She shoved the notebook away and groaned.

"Is she still doing that? I thought we broke her of it." Gohan understood the need to eat all the time, but he didn't understand Kara's 'cravings'.

Karen popped her back. "Are you training me next?"

Gohan nodded and put Trunks on the floor. The child pulled himself up into a standing position and waddled off to Kara's door to pat it again. He was determined to be in the room. "I think he's convinced Kara will take him to the park if he's persistent enough."

* * *

Lyn had two full shopping bags while Aly had one. They went through the slightly damaged strip mall and looked around. The Androids hadn't been around in a long time so everything was open for the day. Lyn adored the shopping, the cashiers were very friendly. Of course, they didn't know her yet.

Aly, on the other hand, wanted to check out a nearby shooting range. She'd gotten her gun permit last month and she now stockpiled ammo. With the threat of the Androids on them at all times, it never hurt to be careful. She had her new gun on her hip as she walked. No one gave it a second glance.

"I want to know how you can afford all that stuff," Aly said. "I mean, I get a discount with my permit. You're buying high-priced clothes."

"That cute girl bought them for me." Lyn smiled as she walked on and looked in a window. "I told her they're for my sister."

"So you pretended to be a boy again. Sometimes I envy you. Hell, I still have trouble remembering if you're male or female. You've got that look to your face."

"And I imitate Gohan's voice for the added effect," she said with pride. "If I'm not supposed to use this ability then why do I have it?"

Aly just kept walking on. "Nothing from the Androids and nothing from Nightwind. But she's in Japan."

"What makes you say that?" Gohan's voice asked. Aly looked back to see Lyn standing there. She was trying to catch the eye of another cute girl.

"Mostly this." Aly thrust a flyer out that Lyn took. She then pulled out her cell to call Karen.

Terra Nightwind was having a concert that night.

* * *

"I'm going to that concert!" Kara shouted before groaning in pain.

"You sound like a typical teen girl. You're staying here," Gohan warned. Trunks was toddling around and grabbed one of his toys to show to Kara.

"Red!"

Kara gave him a pat on the head and then stood up. "Nightwind is looking for me, what if she mistakes someone else for me?"

Karen grabbed her and forced her to sit back down. "You don't have the sense the Lord gave a goose, Kara, you're still having a migraine!"

"We have to go, yeah, but you need to stay here and take it easy for a couple of days. If you rest, your injuries will heal and you can become a Super Saiyan." Gohan put his hands on the older girl's shoulders. "But you have to rest!"

"You can stay here and watch Trunks and Kiyo tonight. We'll go check out Nightwind. We'll send in Lyn to look around before we make our move," Aly suggested. She loaded her gun up and aimed it at the wall to check her sight. Trunks' face lit up at Kiyo's name and he clapped.

"See? He likes the idea. We'll get Keiko here, too. It's about time she started some training."

"I want to go! I have to fight her, you don't GET it!" Kara stood back up and groaned. "It feels like I have to fight her, the longer I go without it the more it burns!"

Gohan hit the table. The force of his blow dented it. "You're staying here, if I have to knock you out!"

Kara hated the suggestion, but there was nothing she could do about it. Gohan would make good on the threat.

"_This is bullshit! Complete bullshit!_" Kara cursed. Karen smacked her for her mouth and stood up. As she did, Trunks went over to Karen and hit her as hard as he could.

"No! No hit! Bad!"

With a sigh, Gohan sat back down. "It's decided Kara… rest up and you can go to the next one."

* * *

That was how Kara had become stuck babysitting. Trunks was playing with Kiyo while Keiko was doing homework. Kara herself had long since stopped caring about schoolwork and never bothered to touch the books that Bulma had gotten for the three junior high girls.

She sat there, bored out of her mind as Trunks followed Kiyo around and tried giving her his toys. Kiyo, on the other hand, was ignoring his attempts and was moving around the room making a mess. Trunks looked up at Kara as though she could do something about it.

"_Sorry, buddy. I don't think she wants a boyfriend right now,_" Kara said. It was easier on her to use English when no one else was around. Trunks was picking up a few simple words here and there from listening to her, so that was a plus. The little boy kept going after Kiyo.

"Are you feeling okay?" Keiko asked. Kara said nothing and leaned forward to snatch Kiyo away from toppling a heavy stack of books onto herself. Trunks didn't like that his playmate was taken away and smiled when she was placed back down a moment later.

"I'll be fine," she said. The longer she went without fighting Nightwind, the more maddening it became. It wasn't her Saiyan nature, it was… just something else.

She grabbed the remote control and flipped the TV on. There was a news segment running about the concert and it grabbed her attention. Nightwind hadn't been quiet about showing up. She arrived in full force as a pop star and had quickly learned the language. There was a huge crowd at the concert that night. In fact, as she watched, she caught a glimpse of Karen making her way inside.

* * *

"I guess with the Androids inactive lately, people are starting to come out of the woodwork," Aly said. "They haven't been out in a while."

"That makes me nervous." Gohan gently pushed his way past several screaming teen girls. "Did everyone just forget about them?"

"Stuff like this is what helps them when they come back." Karen showed their tickets that Lyn had conned a boy into buying for her. "They remember there's something to live for."

"It just makes me sick," Aly huffed as she put her cigarette out before walking inside. "Nightwind is popular here, too. She's a monster."

They made their way in to the concert hall which was gearing up for the show. There were a few people the girls recognized to be American in the crowd. One possibility was that they were fans of Nightwind who had flown in. Or they were agents of the Dark Kingdom sent to lure the girls into a false sense of security.

By the time they made it to their seats in the middle of the concert hall the lights were dimming and the spotlights came on. Lyn was the first in her seat while Karen seemed uneasy about sitting in hers.

"It could be filthy," she said.

"For fuck's sake, sit your ass in the goddamned chair." Aly sat down and muttered under her breath. Karen huffed but held back from hitting her older friend for her language.

"That's her." Gohan pointed as Nightwind came on stage. He braced himself for sudden shrieks of happiness from the fans, but there were none. The stage lights circled around the audience and stopped all at once on the group. Lyn and Aly went to stand up but found themselves stuck to their chairs.

"It was worth the pounding migraine to find you." Nightwind leaned against the microphone stand and smiled at them. The audience vanished as though it had never been there. "You like it? I had to build the device from scratch, but it's pretty damn good. Good enough to get you all in-"

She paused and stood straight. She looked to the left and to the right and became furious.

"WHERE IS SHE?!"

"Kara's at home!" Gohan warned. He threw a ball of ki at the woman and watched her sidestep it. With a growl, she drew her sword.

"Then I'm just going to have to use _dead_ bait, aren't I?"

* * *

"_No. Ball. Say 'ball',_" Kara said in English to Trunks. She repeated it several times while he and Kiyo stared at her.

"_Ba!_"

Kara clapped excitedly when Trunks did his best to say 'Ball' in English. Kiyo just got up and went to try and climb on the coffee table again. Kara pulled her off before Trunks could follow her example.

"And you need to stay on the ground little miss spider monkey." Kiyo huffed at the notion of not being allowed to climb up. "Look, sis, if you fall and bust your face open it's my responsibility."

"Kara-chan?" Keiko walked in from the toilet. "I got a text message from Lyn, but I can't read it." The six year old held the phone out to Kara and brought the message up.

"I hate text-speak. Okay, Lyn, what's up?" She scrolled through the nonsensical message growing more and more concerned. She was clearly trying to text without looking at her keyboard.

"jwlp. Migyrqibf?" Kara's eyes went wide as she began realizing which letters were next to the keys she was hitting. Before she could move, a new message came in.

911.

* * *

Gohan punched her again while Lyn and Aly struggled to get up. Sailor Black Moon threw a shard of her earring and watched it lodge into the stage and begin to seep energy out. Sailor Earth went to retaliate when Gohan grabbed her by the arm and twisted it hard.

Earth hit the wall and shrieked in pain as her arm snapped. She slumped to her knees and held the wound. Her yellow eyes stared forward, unseeing.

"Assessing damage… significant injuries detected," she said. Gohan was confused and stepped back as Earth gripped her arm tight and twisted it back to the correct position. Saliva ran down the corner of her mouth. "Shutting down sensory perception. Nano repairs beginning, rerouting."

She stood up and continued to stare forward as her eyes gave off a faint light. The injury to her arm began to set. "Warning, insufficient resources for full repair. Rate of sustained injuries accumulating too quickly, shutting down all non-vital systems. Shut down completed. Warning, peripheral vision lost. Warning, auditory recognition lost. Warning, nervous system shut down. Override initiated, beginning in ten, nine, Override canceled. Nervous system shut down. Injuries will not be reported. Repeat, injuries will not be reported."

She stood to her full height and waited a moment.

"Is… is she an android, too?!" Gohan shouted.

"Returning to combat mode."

She rushed at him with single-minded fury. True to her words, it was like all she could see was Gohan as she struck. It was easy to be set up for other attacks, but Black Moon was taking the time to free her friends.

Earth raised her sword and went to bring it down in a killing blow when a sharp kick to her side toppled her over. She went to get up and Gohan saw Neo Moon standing there. He didn't have time to be happy she showed up or angry. True to her word, Earth wasn't even giving her new injuries any notice. She rushed Neo Moon and the two began fighting once more. The battle was still evened out with their collective injuries.

"Are they up?" Gohan asked as he landed next to Black Moon.

"I can't get the bindings to come undone. Lord, help me!" she prayed as she recalled the black crystal shard.

Lyn struggled for another moment before she stared. "Hey, guys… get out of the way and cover up."

Gohan and Black Moon stopped and stared at her. "What?"

"Oh no…" Black Moon grabbed his arm and pulled him as far away as she could before Lyn inhaled deeply and began to scream. The noise forced the two fighters to stop and Earth began to speak again. Neo Moon couldn't hear it, however, due to the higher volume of the shriek. The vibrations began to force the building apart and it wasn't long before the trap came undone and both girls were up again.

Aly pulled her gun and cocked it before unloading three shots into Earth's arm. Blood and a clear fluid began running down to stain her gloves as she vanished.

"Well… that was eventful." Black Moon walked back over to help Lyn to her feet.

"Sailor Earth is an android too?" Gohan demanded. The girls looked to one another.

"Well, we don't really know," Aly said. She was reloading her missing three bullets as she spoke. "I mean, we don't have any memories of the Moon Kingdom. We know she was there, but…"

She shrugged.

"She calls herself a 'Realian'. She implied that it's something beyond an android," Neo Moon finally said as she transformed back. "I had to leave Keiko with the babies. Sorry, I know I wasn't supposed to come…"

She was much more calm after the fight than she had been for months. "I'm sorry. I'll do better in training, I'll tell you when I'm hurt… if it means getting more chances to fight her."

She ran her hand through her brown hair.

"Will you stop eating my notebooks?" Karen demanded after transforming back.

"No."

Before Karen could say anything, Gohan motioned for them to be quiet. "She's… beyond an android. Those two are stronger than anything I can imagine. I'm going to have to step up my training if I can hope to help you guys against her. And… as soon as he's able to, I'm going to train Trunks."

Kara said nothing about it and stared at the wall as she lost herself in her thoughts.

"Hell… we've got our work cut out for us."


End file.
